Filler cap and other closures



Nov. 13, 1951 R. c. MARCELL ,5

FILLER CAP AND OTHER CLOSURES Filed Aug. 29, 1949 2 SHEETSSHEET 1 Invenlor Re gins/J Marce 87: Au mifi Nov. 13, 1951 R. c. MARCELL2,574,836

FILLER CAP AND OTHER CLOSURES Filed Aug. 29, 1949 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 (Y)Inventor RegLpa/J C. Na-reell B n I 1* V- CXWLLM/ 9 $1 ttorney PatentedNov. 13, i951 2.7:

FI L R" oAP'ANn o'rrmn CLOSURES Reginald Claude Marcell, Thames Ditton,England, assignor to D. Napier & Son Limited, London, England, a Britishcompany Application August 29, 1949, Serial No. 112,894

In Great Britain September 3, 1948 8. Claims. to]. 22o 29) Thisinvention relates to closures, and is primarily but not exclusivelyapplicable to filler caps for the-fuel tanks of aircraft and the like.

-An object of the invention is to provide an improved form of filler capor other closure which can be securely fastened and yet rapidly opened,which has no detachable parts, and which when closed gives a smooth anduninterrupted surface which may be fiush with a surrounding surface suchas the skin of an aircraft.

According to thepresent invention a filler cap or other closure devicecomprises a seating sur rounding the opening to be closed, aclosure-fitting in or over the opening, a primary lever extending acrossand carrying the closure and carried by a fixed pivot at one end, asecondary floating lever pivoted to the free end of the primary leverand having an extension at one end projecting beyond such pivot toengage under a fixed abutment, and locking means for retaining the otherend of the floating lever in a position close to the primary lever. Thelocking means may comprise a hook engaging afixed pin. In onearrangement the floating lever is in the form of a flat cover having init an aperture or recess occupied by a subsidiary fiat cover, thesubsidiary fiat cover being capable of movement to operate the lockingmeans for the secondary lever. The subsidiary cover conveniently issecured .to or formed as part of a locking hook and pivoted about anaxis intermediate in its length so that one end of it can be pressedinwardly to release the hook after which the other end can be pulled toswing the secondary lever clear of its abutment and then swing theprimarylever about its pivot to open the closure.

The primary lever may be in the form'of a leaf spring serving to holdthe closure resiliently on its seating when in the closed position.

The invention may be carried into'practice in various ways, but onespecific embodiment will now be described by way of example withreference to the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a sideelevation, partly sectioned, of a filler cap in the closed position,

Figure 2 is a plan of the filler cap of Figure 1, and

Figure 3 is a side elevation, partly sectioned, of the filler cap ofFigure 1 in the open position.

In this particular embodiment the invention is applied to a filler capfor the fuel tank of an aircraft. Secured around the filling opening ofthe tank l with the aid of a packing block 2 and washers 3 by rivets orscrews passing through holes 4' is a casting'in the form of a seating 4for a closurel. The seating ,4 is formed with an annu ar groove 6 toreceive a sealing washer I surrounding the filling opening and pairs oflugs 8 and 9 on each side of the filling opening proe jecting upwards atdiametrically opposite points.

The seating 4 is surrounded by an outer skin or funnel I 0 connectingits lower portion to'the skin-l I of the aircraft in which it is fittedso that ifany fuel is upset it will not flow into the space between thetank and the skin.

= The closure proper consists of a cast disc 5 having an annular rib l2on its under side to fit within the sealing washer I and a pair ofshallow-lugs l3 on its upper side to accommodate a pivot-pin l4. Thispivot pin I4, situated diametricallyacross the top of the closure 5,fits over a. primary lever IS in the form of a leaf spring formed ofspring steel strip having both ends sloping slightly upwards and curledround at their extremities to form eyes l6 and IT. The end having theeye It is slotted down the middle at l-8.- The other end is pivoted bymeans of the eye I! to the pair of fixed lugs 9 of the seating '4 bymeans of a pivot pin [9 passing through them. Accordingly the primarylever I5 and the closure 5 can be swung clear of the filling openingabout this pivot to the positions shown in Figure 3."

A secondary lever is pivoted to the-free end of the primary lever by apin 20 passing through the eye Hi. This secondary lever is in the formof a main cover 22 of sheet metal having a central web 23 and two outerparallel webs 24 projecting from its under side. The latter are formedfrom two further pieces of sheet metal bent 'to uneoual' channel sectionand riveted to the cover M25. The central web 23 has a hole near one endby which it is pivoted by the pin 20 to the primary lever; this webextending into the central slot [8. The web 23 is continued beyond thepivot 20 downwardly and outwardly and terminates in ahook 26 arranged toengage beneath a fixed pin 21 extending between the pair of lugs 8 ofthe seating 4. Accordingly the sec-- ondary lever serves to force thefree end of the primary lever down towards the seating and due to itsleverage enables a substantial force to be readily exerted on it. At itsend opposite to the pivot 20 the main cover 22 of the secondary leverhas a substantial piece cut out of it so as to leave a recess 30extending nearly half the length of the cover. This recess is occupiedby a subsidiary cover 3| to which is secured a locking hook. The latterconstituted by a further piece of metal of generally channel sectionriveted at 32 to the subsidiary cover 3l and affording two webs in theshape of hooks 33 pro ecting downwardly from it, Near the middle ofthelength of the subsidiaifyfcover these webs are formed with holes toreceive a pivot pin 34 passing through the corresponding webs 24 of thesecondary lever so as to pivot the locking hook to the free end of thesecondary lever. The adjacent lugs 9 of the seating 4 are provided witha further pin 35 situated so that it can be engaged by these hooks 33 tolock the secondary lever in position. The parts are so dimensioned thatwhen in their locked position the subsidiary cover 3! of the lockinghook and the main cover 22 of the secondary lever are fiush with oneanother and with the surrounding skin H of the aircraft. A torsionspring 36 surrounding the pivot pin 34 bears against the subsidiarycover 31 and against a stop pin 31 carried by the webs 24 of thesecondary lever, and serves to bias the locking hook, in a clockwisedirection as viewed in Figure 1, to the flush position in which theprotruding ends 38 of the webs which form the hooks 33 engage the innersurface of the main cover 22 to prevent further relative rotation of thelocking hook.

It will be appreciated that to open the filler cap it is only necessaryto presson the'inner end of the subsidiary cover 3| of the locking hookso as to rock the hooks 33 to the position 33 shown in chain lines inFigure 1. The other end of the subsidiary cover 3| ofthe lockinghook'will then project above the level of the surrounding skin II andcan be pulled so as to raise the secondary lever until its hook 26clears the correspondingpin 21 whereafter' further pulling swings themain cover 22, primary'lever l5 and closure 5 clear of the filleropening to the positions shown in Figure 3. Thus the filling opening. isexposed inwhat: really amounts to a single movement. The conversemovement closes it.

Thus the arrangement according'to the invention provides a form ofclosure that can be socurely fastened and yet rapidly opened, that hasno loose parts, and that gives. a smooth uninterrupted surfacewhenclosed.

What I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A closure-device for closing anopening, comprising in combination afixed' seating surrounding the opening, a closure member which can behold the closure resiliently on the seating when in the closed position.

4. A closure device for closing a, filling opening of a tank; comprisingincombination a fixed seating surrounding the opening and secured to thetank, a cap which can be detachably fitted against the seating to closethe opening, a primary lever pivoted at one end to a fixed pivotadjacent the seating at one side of the opening and extending across andcarrying the cap, the primary lever being movable about the fixed pivotto a closed position in which it extends across the opening and holdsthe cap against the seating to close the opening, a floating secondarylever which incorporates a substantially fiat main cover having anaperture therein and is pivoted to the end of the primary lever remotefrom the fixed pivot, and which carries a rigid extension projectingbeyond the common pivotal axis of the primary and secondary levers, anabutment provided by a fixed part adjacent the seating on the side ofthe opening opposite the fixed pivot, detachably engaging said extensionwhen said primary lever is moved to closed position and constituting afulcrum for the secondary lever about which it may be moved to a closedposition in which the main cover overlies the cap, a fixed lockingmember secured to the tank, and a subsidiary cover in the aperture inthe main cover, pivoted to the secondary lever adjacent its free end andcarrying a locking member which cooperates with said fixed lockingmember to lock the free end of the secondary lever in closed positionwhen said subsidiary cover is rotated to lie flush with said main cover.

5. A device as claimed in claim 4 in which the subsidiary cover ispivoted about an axis interv the subsidiary cover and moving therewithout removably fitted against the seating to close the opening, a primarylever pivoted at one end to a fixed pivot adjacent the seating at oneside of the opening and extending across and carrying fixed partadjacent the seating on the side of the opening opposite the fixedpivot, a floating secondary lever pivoted to the end of the primarylever remote from the fixed pivot and carrying. an extension whichprojects beyondthe common pivotal axis of the primary and secondarylevers..- the extension being so positioned. on the secondarylever as tobe detachably engaged under the abutment when said primary lever is inclosed position and serve as a fulcrum for the secondary lever, andlocking means for retaining the free. end of the secondary lever in. aposition across the-opening close to the primary lever in which positionit will retain the primary lever in its said positionholding the.closure. member on. to. the seating v v 2. A device as. claimed in.claim' 1. inwhich the locking means comprises a hookengaging a-pin ',3.,A device asclaime'din claim 1 inwhichthe primary lever comprises a leafspring. servingv to of engagement with said pin when one end of saidsubsidiary cover is pressed inwardly from the locked position, thuspermitting its other end to be pulled upwardly to swing the secondarylever clear of the abutment and then to swing 1 the primary lever aboutthe fixed pivot to lift the cap off the opening.

6. A device-as claimed in claim 5 in which the primary lever comprises aleaf spring serving to hold the cap resiliently against the seating when1 in the closed position.

7. A device as claimedin claim 6 in which the seating is provided by acasting secured to the tank having projecting lugs which support thefixed pivot for the primary lever and the fixed abutment and the fixedpin.

8. A device as claimed in claim 7 including a sealing washer carried ina groove in the seating, against whichv the cap is pressed when in theclosed position. to seal the opening.

REGINALD CLAUDE MARCELL.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES. PATENTS Number

